


Revolt

by SomeoneFromHeLL



Category: Shiki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Mild Gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:27:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28204578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomeoneFromHeLL/pseuds/SomeoneFromHeLL
Summary: A traveling doctor finds a corpse, lying in the ocean.
Relationships: Muroi Seishin & Ozaki Toshio
Kudos: 1





	Revolt

There was one phrase, that had seemed so useless back then, yet now stayed trapped inside his head…

Mother had always preached to him: _‘search for hope.’_

Yes, in order to live down there, between those mountains, hope was essential… If one wanted to remain in this world, they had to seek for it time and time again, peer into the same dusty corners, walk through the mundane paths…

Here… The ocean was silent and Seishin was tired of obeying the world’s laws…

“Hey!”

He lazily turned his head to the side, shutting one of his eyes, once it had submerged under the thin layer of water. The cheek hit sharp edges of rocks, that had been slumbering below. He hazily watched, as a figure made his way through the stony surface, staggering through the piles of shimmering stones and debris. Another shout was emitted soon after.

“Are you alright over there?!”

Seishin blinked. He was trying to focus on the blurry figure, which had mingled with the sun’s radiance. That person obviously meant him… After a moment or perhaps even less, Seishin’s wrist was raised, warm fingers pressed onto the pallid flesh, searching for a pulse. There was none after all…

“B-blink at me…” He was getting frightened, Seishin could tell from the shaking voice. Regardless, he did as told, damning all logic to oblivion. The brown-haired male exhaled a little easier. “You’re alive… Thank goodness.”

His eyes landed on a protrusion, sticking out from the other side - Seishin’s left arm. The brunet frowned, heading over Seishin’s sprawled legs to inspect this oddity. His gaze was set at something akin to a sewing needle, stabbing the wrist. Naturally, the wound had been coagulated, for the most part, only dried crimson trails remained on the sides.

“What is that?... Wait, I’ll…” The brown-haired male halted, his fingers delving into his coat’s pockets, throwing a myriad of buttonhooks, threads and patches into the slowly wafting waves, meanwhile Seishin imitated puffing air out of his lungs, his pupils trailing this odd miscellany. In all his life he hadn’t seen a person so disorganized and carrying this many pointless belongings.

The brunet was named Ozaki Toshio, he was a traveling physician of sorts. That was what he had said, while treating the wound. Their chat had ended with Toshio rambling about Mizobe and other surrounding towns, obviously, Seishin wasn’t the best discussant for these topics, so Toshio’s words had ran out pretty quickly. While wrapping a white cloth around the crimson wrist, Toshio tried to raise Seishin’s arm up a bit, a hideous pop sounded instantly, veering the doctor’s attention at the unfortunate shoulder. It was dislocated, the edge of the bone was sticking out proudly. Toshio grimaced.

“That’s unfortunate. You’ve been left with frail bones, eh?”

“What do mean?”

“Nothing in particular. Now when I think about it, I’ve never learned your name.”

“I don’t have one.”

“Eh? Certainly, that’s not true.” Toshio smirked lightly, poking flaws in Seishin’s lying.

“I said, I don’t have one….”

The physician exhaled in defeat, scratching his head. He stood up next, carefully tying the tail of the cloth on his right wrist, while the other end remained securely wrapped around Seishin’s. The latter sat up as well, meeting Toshio with a puzzled expression.

“Fine then… But I’m staying with you for a while, to see, how that wound’s doing.” Seishin cocked an eyebrow, while rubbing his unresponsive left shoulder. Toshio motioned for him to stand up. “How about we take a walk? I’ve never been to Sotoba actually.”

“Uhm… I-it’s nothing special. This ocean is all we have, that’s worth attention.”

“Really? So you’re from here?”

“Ah…”

“Then what were you doing, lying dead in the ocean?”

“I don’t know.”

“Honestly…” Toshio muttered under his breath, his eyebrow twitched, accompanying his disbelief. on the other hand, Seishin preferred to stay quiet. During their walk along the shore, his bare feet were overtaken by the lukewarm waves and froth, that had proudly reflected the sun’s rays. His feet’s fingers gradually sank into the cold pebbles underneath, mingling between them. This time he had been the one to ask.

“For how long will you be staying in the village, Ozaki?”

“Hmm. Let’s see…” Toshio rubbed his chin. “For a couple of days, I think, depending on how many patients I’ll get. My wife is impatient, when it comes to stopping in rural grounds, so it might be three days at best.”

“I see… It would be better, if you’d hurry though.”

“Why?”

“Sotoba’s not particularly courteous to outsiders… There were plenty of accidents throughout these years, from silent murders to riots.”

“And then there’s the legend of Okia-gari.” Seishin paused in his steps, turning to face Toshio with bloodshot eyes after that careless sentence was spewed out. The brown-haired male laughed at his reaction. “What’s with that face? That legend’s not really a secret. It’s the first thing, they preached to me in the pub.”

“Hasegawa, I take it?”

“Uhm… It was a plump man with a ridiculous beard.”

“Ohkawa Tomio then.” Seishin sighed. Toshio hid his hands inside the coat’s pockets, his mind was quick to recount all those ridiculous words. His senses delved into them, like the story had been a part of the most euphonious song.

“They say, that the dead revive during the night and feast on the living’s soul. If the victim manages to get away from the okia-gari until the day breaks, they survive. Otherwise, the dead flourish and come back to life. The soulless body is buried in the demon's stead. Huh! It seems like a game, that can go both ways.”

“Ridiculous…”

“Maybe so…” Toshio nodded, leaving his mouth ajar, alas nothing else had flown out of the cage.

They kept walking along the shore in silence, eating away several hours from existance.

“Hmm… Does your village have any celebrations, that are passed down? Or perhaps fun stories?” Toshio gave Seishin a glance. The other squinted his eyes, as if trying to force some kind of invader out of sight. It surely wasn’t the sun though, since the scorching orb had dived beneath the thick clouds at least an hour ago, the weather also brought forth chilly gusts. They ruffled the waves fiercely.

“There’s Kagura in November…”

“Most of the towns celebrate Kagura. It isn’t that much of a big deal. I thought you had something more authentic…” Toshio prattled on, stepping ahead, while Seishin himself paused, rubbing the side of his face. “And you should…” Suddenly Toshion was cut off, once the thread yanked him back, as if displeased, that the doctor built too much distance. “Why did you stop?”

“I don’t understand…”

“What? Kagura?”

“No… My eye. I can’t see with it…” Toshio paused in confusion, meanwhile, Seishin desperately rubbed his eyelids, then blinked rapidly. “This shouldn’t be normal, right?”

“Let me see.”

The pupil had been in fact covered with an ashen sheet. It was hard to note the borders between the iris and sclera, since their colors mashed together. Toshio clicked his tongue, before shaking his head in disbelief.

“Are you sure, it wasn’t that way before?”

“I would have noticed.”

“Even when you were alive?”

“Uhm…” Seishin faltered for an instant. “I suppose…”

“Hmm. This is odd. And not really something, I could help you with. You are dead after all…”

“How can you?..”

“It’s easy.” Toshio shrugged, raising Seishin’s lifeless arm by the thread. “Find your pulse. Try taking a deep breath…” 

The silver-haired male flimsily took his defected arm, fingers pressed into the rigid flesh for dear life. Toshio took a step back, watching his struggles in slight disgust. Soon enough Seishin clutched his hand against the chest.

“But then I’m…”

“Technically you’re not dead, it’s just my stupid need to label things.” He scoffed. ”Your life was extended. That means this is a disease. There are other phenomenons like you, that’s why I’m researching, how to cure this.”

“I see.”

“So why not start with some simple questions.” Toshio smiled kindly, burying his digits into the crowded pockets. “What’s your name?”

“I don’t have it…”

“Damn you… Help me out a bit. How did you die?”

“I… I’m not so sure… It’s blurry.”

“Eh?” Toshio tilted his head in genuine surprise, his voice was slightly drowned out by the risen wind though. “That’s weird, all the phenomenons I spoke with, remembered their reincarnation clearly…”

Seishin glowered at him, all the while rubbing his blind eye. He prayed, their talk would carelessly reel somewhere else, and luckily they were robbed of speech entirely. The morphing weather began to severely rip at the earth, causing lines of sand to arise in the search for a new home and the clouds were dyed into a velvet hue, staring down at the men with fury. The ocean roared likewise, rising and falling out of rhythm adding to nature’s intended dread.

Seishin watched this sudden change, concealing a shiver and shutting one of his ears from the soaring grains, Toshio looked up as well, scratching his head. His voice, that had come next, was overtaken by rageful winds.

“Ah… I think a storm’s coming. You know, there was a fun accident, back when I was in Hayato I was also caught off guard by one…”

“Uhm, shouldn’t we search for a place to hide, Ozaki?”

“Unless you know of a place.” He shrugged, before pointing at Seishin. “That’s what I was trying to say, before you interrupted my story…”

“Alright then. Continue…”

While Toshio once again blabbered on and off about his adventures in surrounding towns or various patients, that he had treated, Seishin kept tugging on the thread, forcing his companion to hurry. Eventually, Toshio deemed it would be better for him to shut up. That idea sprung to mind, after a third protrusion had made him stumble. They were also heading away from the shore into a more mountainous and vegetated part of the environment.

After a few steps, they stood in front of a moderate cave, outlined by huge, uneven stones. Toshio sighed in relief, before sneaking inside.

“Well now, this is better. At least the winds won’t rip us to shreds…” He exhaled, leaning his back against the curved wall. His pupils had spotted Seishin’s drenched back lingering in the rain, he was fervidly rubbing his eyes now. “What are you doing there?”

“I can’t see…”

“What? How come?”

“I can’t…”

“Alright… Wait up, I’ll lead you in…”

It was just as Toshio had feared, both of his eyes were proudly dead... It was useless to try and make any claims, so instead Toshio sat down with Seishin standing uncertainly beside him, rubbing the dead shoulder.

“You can’t do anything, can you, Ozaki?”

“I didn’t say so. When the storm will lessen, I’ll head back to Sotoba. See if I’ll be able to salvage some herbs, perhaps it’s an infection of some sort…” He bit down on his thumbnail, giving a fleeting glance Seishin’s way, even though he had said so, the doctor had very little hope. His eyes widened suddenly. “Say, what are you going to do, since you’re alive again?”

“Uhm… The village…”

“Being blind?” Toshio huffed mockingly, rubbing the sore fact in. “You are dead, and it shows.” He pointed at the pallid flesh. ”You’ll probably creep people out.”

“Then what should I do?” He pinched his lower lip.

“I’d say come back with me. I have some people, that are somewhat in a similar state. They are my friends, that’s why I’m searching for a cure to this disease… I’d be happy to have you along”.

“But… I can’t just leave… My parents…”

“ _Leave?_.. And what will you be leaving? If you’re stranded in the sea, I’m suspecting, people know, you’re dead…”

“But… I’m still here aren’t I?”

Toshio jabbed at the ashen unseeing eyes, as if wanting to scorch them with logic. This guy was clearly a wack… The physician had seen cases like these. In most of them, family ties and sentimentality were out of the question…

* * *

Several hours had calmly drifted by. In his mind’s eye, Seishin had envisioned a clear sea, outlined by a cyan sky. Somewhere on the side was a young boy, overtaken by waves… It felt nostalgic, familiar…. That was why he so confidently rose his hand calling the name of the boy, though his voice came out hollow… It was nothing but a pathetic wheeze, the silver-haired male’s voice could not disturb the actor’s play. Baffled, Seishin opened his mouth once more, though the hoarse tone, which flew out was not his.

“Wake up.”

“Ah… I-I’m awake…” Seishin veered his head to either side in confusion, his shoulder hit an edge of a rock, as he tried to sit up, so Seishin halted, patting the surrounding stones.

“I’ve been to Sotoba, brought some food, herbs…” Toshio continued, his voice was accompanied by the sound of some cloth being ruffled. Soon enough the end of a loaf was pushed in Seishin’s unresponsive fingers. ”Here eat up.”

“Is the weather still bad?”

“Somewhat…”

Seishin fidgetted with the soft texture, that now rested on his knees. While doing so, he felt the knot securely tied around his wrist. The interest was suddenly picked up, after he recounted Toshio’s words about the thread. Why would he go out to Sotoba, when he said...

“Ozaki, did you untie your end?”

“Huh? Don’t ask stupid questions.”

Seishin’s lips were pinched, though he did not know, what exactly irked him, was it Toshio’s response or simply his blindness. Talking about the latter, this inability to see, frightened him, so he kept blinking like the last resort, as if that would surprisingly fix his eyesight.

“Please stop that. It looks odd." Toshio remarked. A cold tone rang out through the cave. “I have some more questions for you.”

“I don’t know my name.” Seishin shot back irritably.

“Not that. I learned my lesson. I want to know, when you died.”

“When?” Seishin leaned back at the edges of rocks more easily.

“Yes.”

“Uh, a few days ago.”

“I see… I see… Hmm. Your town’s more interesting than it looks from the outside…”

“Ridiculous… the only good thing here is the beach-”

“Besides the okia-gari, there’s also a scent of murder wafting around…” Toshio interrupted, narrowing his eyes at his companion’s immobile posture. He could have labeled Seishin as a statue, if he ignored the rapid blinking. “I had the honor of speaking with the head priest… He’s still in shock though… having his youngest son murdered by the other… And then as I gathered, the older brother went missing a couple of days ago… Sounds, _ridiculous,_ doesn’t it?”

Seishin continuously picked at the piece of loaf, scattering the food all over. In the meantime, Toshio pierced him with a glare.

“Is your family name _Muroi_ , by any chance?”

There was a deafening silence between them, while Seishin’s fingers quietly devoured the bread. Eventually, he parted his mouth in a whisper.

“N-no.”

“You’re lying…” Toshio furrowed his brows, stuffing his own food in the linen bag. “If you’re really a dead murderer, then you really have no place here.”

“I have no place anywhere else either. I’m not about to run away….”

“So you’ll just rot here?”

“It’s my punishment.”

Toshio’s eyebrow twitched and he exhaled an angered fume. His fingers snatched the remainder of the suffering loaf, leaving Seishin’s fingers wandering in the air.

“If that’s the case, you won’t be needing this either. I can’t watch food being wasted.” He grunted, packing the herbs, he had bought off the market. The physician was about to let loose another argument, though he spotted, how the silver-haired male turned away from him with a detached expression and fingers tightly clutched in his lap. So the corpse decided to disregard him? Toshio could not care less, he exited into the tranquil setting sun.

In the meantime the silver-haired male’s ears trailed Ozaki’s lessening steps, until they became inaudible whispers – he bid them farewell. Seishin emitted a sad sigh after… His mind wasn’t that quick to abandon the doctor and his proposition...

He didn’t feel well…

Eventually, Seishin’s head hit the stony wall with a loud thump, before he placed his side on the hard surface. After lying still for a while, another dream had enveloped Seishin’s mind.

This time it was more cohesive. He saw himself and his younger brother, carrying their goods to their father. While Seishin had spent his days taking care of the crops, his brother was a shepherd and had slain the newborn of the flock for the family. Muroi Shinmei had nodded briskly a couple of times at both of their givings, though had favored the younger brother’s more…

It had always been that way… Very little changes disrupted their lives… His insides felt bitter it kept accumulating, he hated it… Somehow killing his younger brother nulled that feeling. He was freed…

Though this sudden disappearance did not go unnoticed by their father, since he questioned Seishin the next day, during their meek breakfast.

“Have you seen your bother?”

“No. I haven’t...” He replied.

* * *

This was an exile of sorts.

Seishin was rather surprised, after he had woken up. Toshio’s absence was regarded calmly this time. He should have foreseen it would end this way… Though, what had truly caught his attention was the tail of cloth around his wrist. It had been pulling against him, draping his dead arm off the stone, he had been lying on. After tugging on the thread uselessly, Seishin got up on his wobbly legs, deciding to follow its trail. If Toshio left the beach area, there was no way this pull would be possible, unless the physician tied his end to a tree. He cautiously trailed the extended thread, waving his hand in search of obstacles from time to time. The male was taken aback, by how long the string had extended, he did not remember it being so long. In the end, Seishin abandoned the idea of tying the newly found thread around his wrist and allowed the fabric to stumble along with his legs. As he kept staggering forward, his feet slipped… Seishin gasped, trying to take back his balance, though his next step was welcomed by a gust instead of stable soil. He fell down a cliff…

This shouldn’t have been possible… He still felt life coursing through his remaining arm. A dull pain came from his legs, though as he could not move them, he left them be. Seishin registered, that he had fallen off somewhere, he could not comprehend, what he was lying on however… It was warm in a way… At times prickly, at times soft…

The man’s fingers glided on the dead body beneath him, soon picking up a pile of buttonhooks and bread crumbs. His mouth quivered.

“ _No_ … No… No… No… No…”

The thread was connected as well, though the wrist, where it had ended, seemed putrid… Furthermore, Toshio’s corpse was hastily decomposing with a million worms to aid the process… Seishin could hear the waves wafting next to him. Meanwhile, the tiny creatures infested his mangled legs, resolutely nesting inside… In a time like this, his mother’s words ricochetted to his mind.

_‘You must search for hope.'_

What a fickle word that was… Thankfully this ocean did not require such useless seeking...


End file.
